A Killing in New Town

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, insightful, and graced with fascinating character
Review: Horsley's revisisionistic view of the period provides historical insight into a period of rampant exploitation. Beyond that it is one woman's story of redemption. The story centering around a woman searching for her children who have been taken on a "nature trip" in the mountains soon comes to realize that no matter how horrible the acts of man, if the powers that be support the actions the perpetrators either individually or collectively can get away with the most heinous of crimes.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyed It
Review: I was crusing through a used bookstore when I came across a "remaindered" copy of Horsely's "Confessions of a Pagan Nun." Remaindered turns out to mean, simply, "marked down." Despite this, I was fascinated by the book's cover. Also, when I turned it over, it had received a rousing endorsement from Ursula K. Le Guin. I am a big fan of Le Guin and had no reason to distrust her literary judgement. So I bought the book and am happy that I did.

Months passed and I realized that the little book list I carry around with me needed another Horsely title. I can't recall how I came to jot down "A Killing in New Town" but it doesn't really matter.

Since others have briefly outlined the story, let me say that it is Horsely's instinct for both poetry and landscape which makes her such a joy to read. Moreover, her heroes and heroines are not simplistic, mono-dimensional personages; they are complex, filled with flaws as well as wisdom, bad judgement and clear sight.

Also, there is something deeply spiritual about Horsely's work. The landscapes come alive. What's more, specters of history -- deeds otherwise got away with by aggressors and/or liars -- are re-examined in a fictional context. Horsely does not soften such events nor give a pass to perpetrators.

While the literati seem hopelessly obsessed with psychological realism as well as an existentialism which dominated literature in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Horsely (as well as Le Guin) introduce a needed freshness and invention to the novel: Landscapes are seen as living, breathing, influential, terrifying, and beautiful things. What's more, flawed characters (many of them women) find truth, justice, and redemption despite their story's final disposition.

I would call Horsely's work fierce -- in its dedication to truth, humanity, history, and multi-culturalism. It is very much alive.

John Guess
Bellingham, Washington

Rating:
Summary: Another amazing story by Kate Horsley!
Review: This is another well written, intense and interesting novel by Kate Horsley. She pulls readers into her stories and keeps them there. You may not always agree with what she has to say but you must agree that it keeps you thinking. I am buying the other Kate Horley's that I haven't read yet, today!